Clean Books for Teens (List Updated Regularly)

My children and I have compiled this list of clean books for teens to help you determine books your teen can read so you won’t have to worry about the content. I recently picked up a book from the library for my daughter via a recommendation and she returned it to me unfinished because there were situations and language inside that made her feel uncomfortable. Yikes!

What is a “clean” book? I know everybody’s opinion may vary, but here is how we define a “clean” book. These books are not filled with swear words or sexual situations. None of these books have a mature 17+ rating. I generally err on the side of caution when it comes to “clean” books, but again, perspectives vary. If you consider the Twilight series to be acceptable books, then you should have no problem with any of the books recommended on this list. Incidentally, the Twilight series did NOT make this list, because it was just on the edge of what I would consider “clean” for teens. Finally, while I made this list for teens, many of these books are entertaining for adults too. I personally enjoyed some of the Kasie West books and many others on this list as well. In addition to enjoying the stories, reading some of the same books that my teens read has often provided opportunities for conversations that help build on the parent/teen relationship,which is always an added bonus.

We will do our best to update this post on a monthly basis. My children or I have personally read each book on this list to make sure they meet our standards for a clean read. Please leave suggestions on this post of books that you think are worthy to be added to this list and we will check them out.

We’ve added some new books this month. We’ve added another Kasie West book, we haven’t read all her books but she is a pretty safe bet when it comes to clean books. We’ve also added the inspirational book by Ashley Eckstein, this one would make a great gift.

We are adding a the start of a series to the list. This series happens to be a part of Kindle Unlimited, so if you are a member you can read these all of these for free. My daughter is working on the 7 book series now, so we’ll be sure to add more if they meet the requirements.

A Wrinkle in Time will also work for younger kids/pre-teens, it is the start of a 5 book series. I think most of the books are clean also, but we will have to re-read them to make sure. It has been a long time since my son read all of the books. We’ve also added the 2 books in the Windy City Magic series.

I had a suggestion that the Brotherband Chronicles should be added to the list and I recall picking up book number 6 from the library for my son. I checked with him and he said they were all clean reads. There is some violence, but it isn’t too bad.

We’ve added yet another Kasie West book to the list. She is quickly becoming an “auto-buy” author for my daughter. The newest book P.S. I Like You gets off to a slow start but it quickly turns into a fun book with some witty banter (just like The Distance Between Us). I love that the main character has a very strong family dynamic. We recommend this one!

More books by Kasie West, both my daughter have enjoyed reading all of these! I love her writing style and I highly recommend them to share with your teens! The Distance Between us was so much fun, I would start with that one.

We’ve added a new book series to the list. This book series will be great for boys or girls and even works for a slightly younger crowd. While the books are aimed for tweens and young teens it has been promised to me that teens will love this book (this promise comes from my college age kid who is home for break).

The new books we are adding this month include two books by Ally Carter who also wrote the The Gallagher Girls which also made the list. There is also a 3rd book in this series, but my daughter hasn’t read that one yet. It seems to me most of Ally Carter’s books are clean so there is a good chance it will be worth reading too.

The Matched book is part of a series. I have read the entire series, but the last 2 books didn’t really “wow” me and they were more violent than the first one. I think they would still be fine for teens to read, I just wanted to give you a heads up on why I didn’t actually add them to this list. The Leviathan book is also part of a series and would be great for boys too (I am still working on compiling a list for boys and hope to have it up next month).

The Warrior Heir is the first in a series of 5 books. This series would be great for boys too. Better Off Friends was a great read, there was one swear word towards the very end of the book, so I wanted to give you a heads up on that if you want no foul language at all.

I highly recommend the Girl of Fire and Thorns, this book is part of a series, I haven’t had the chance to read the remaining books in the series, but I plan to soon. Stargirl is being made into a movie, so read the book before it hits the screen (that’s a rule at our house…if you want to see a movie of a book adaptation you have to read the book first).

We’ve added 1 more Jenny B. Jones book to the clean read list. So far all of her books we have read are clean, so you may want to check out her other titles too. Stacy Stallings is also an author that is known to have clean books so you may want to check out other titles by her as well.

We’ve added the Christy Miller series to the list, there are actually 9 books in the original series (we’ve included 3 volumes each with 3 books). There have since been additional books added to this series, but we haven’t had the chance to read them yet.

The Finding June series has an LDS girl as the main character and my daughter loved them both. I’m a sucker for a good cover an the Finding June cover is simply the cutest. UnEnchanted by Chandra Hahn is a great book that has gotten a ton of great reviews on Amazon. The best part, the Kindle edition is usually FREE.

Many of you recommended we check out the Princess Academy series. These books are perfect for younger teens and tweens too. Make sure you check out other books by Shannon Hale, I have heard that many of her books are clean.

I have included links for all of these books at Amazon for both the print and Kindle editions. I highly recommend checking to see if these books are available at your library. I love, love, love my library system and I especially love the fact that I can check out ebooks with the OverDrive Media Console (it’s the coolest thing ever – no more late fees!)

Don’t forget to leave suggestions for books we can add to this list. Happy reading!

Wonderful list – as a mother and writer of Christian teen books I’m always encouraged to see people spread the word about clean teen fiction. I don’t know if you’re still looking for books but I have two Christian adventurous teen mysteries that might fit your list well. “An Unexpected Role” and “The Perfect Blindside”. Keep up the great work!

Great resource. I have a fifth grader who has such a high reading level that she’s been given access to the High School library. Trying to find “appropriate” books is a real challenge. Hopefully with some of these I’ll be able to point her in the right direction.

Guitar Notes by Mary Amato is a favorite of mine. Also anything by Melanie DIckerson is amazing! The Healer’s Apprentice is the first book in the Hagenheim series and they are just so good! Hope you find these to be enjoyable as much as I have. 🙂

Hey! I was just going to say that another really good clean trilogy that I have read recently is the ascendence trilogy by Jennifer A. Nelson. The first book is called The False Prince. If you love books with good plot twists you will love this trilogy.

Your site and common sense media site, are my go-to. However, so many new books are coming out so I have to read and keep an eye out for reviews that are appropriate for 14YO’s.

Ever
Ever the Brave
The Traitors Kiss
The Shadow Queen
The Wish Granter
The Traitor Prince
Not if I Save You First
Markswoman
Frostblood
Fireblood
The Testing Trilogy
Hunted
The Last Namasara
An Enchantment of Ravens

I definitely suggest books by Jennifer Estep. She’s an amazing writer and every book I’ve read from her is clean. A lot of her series like my favorite, the black blade series, is full of adventure, magic, and action with an awesome female lead!

I am thrilled to find this site! I am an author of clean YA books and would love to appear on your list. I am also the mother of two girls who were advanced readers. A wonderful woman at the local Borders (sadly, gone now) helped me find books that were appropriate, but they were few and far between. I was inspired to write my Switch series because of them, and because there are other parents who believe that a compelling story doesn’t need graphic sex, violence or language. Currently, the first two books in the series are available – Switch and Forsaken. The third book in the trilogy will release in June of this year. I have another book, not in the series, releasing in the fall.

I really want to know about Orson Scott Card. I read the Pathfinder series already but I’d like my little sister to read them too. I don’t remeber there being anything bad. And also Meagan Spooner’s book Hunted.( My sis and I read it and it’s only got one bad word towards the end. ) Lisa T. Bergren’s River of Time series, Melanie Dickerson books, Jessica Day George, Donna Jo Napoli….I have over 60 authors that I want to check. I want to buy good books to read and make my own library. I read about 300 books a year and really fast so I have to have a ton by now 😉

I would like for you to take look at my new book, “Panther Creek Mountain” about pre-teens having a wonderful clean and fun life on a mountain top in the 1950s. It received a 5 star review from Reader’s Choice .

What a fantastic list! I’m the mother of three and a clean YA author myself. Would you consider adding my “Beauties from Ashes ” series to your list? Book one “Secrets” is available on Amazon now. Book two “The Uninvited” should be out this holiday season.

thank you so much for posting this Clean Book List for Tweens. My 12 1/2 year old daughter devours books at a HS level but we have run out of clean books for her. We so discouraged by how much sex, violence, drugs and language are in books they say are for pre-teens.

An author I didn’t see when I skimmed through is Robin Jones Gunn. She has some amazing books for teen girls (christian themed)! The Christy Miller Series and the Sierra Jensen series in particular. There are now college age books, and books about some of the friends met in the original series. Her adult books follow the same trend and many of the same characters are found in them.

Jenni James is an author I’ve just found on amazon with both teen and adult stories (I watched her one movie, based on Not Cinderella’s Type, and read one of her adult books, which was clean). She advertises clean stories and I have not picked up a religious thread so far.

So happy I found your blog! I teach English at a small Christian private school and was having a hard time finding appropriate books (especially for girls) to stock my shelves with and you just gave me a great list to get started on!

Thanks so much for sharing those, I know my older boys have read both those series, but it was such a long time ago I totally forgot about them. I am sure I will be able to add those to the list for sure. Thanks again!!

Thank you so much for making this list. It really helped me choose books for my “turning 14 yrs. old in a week” daughter. It’s difficult to ask questions about language/ sexual “preference” etc., online without being ridiculed for being a parent concerned with what your child is exposed to.

This is a great service you are providing. I have a three book series I originally wrote for my kids and then finally decided to publish. They are appropriate for all ages. The titles are, The Ancient Castle, The Ancient Book of Magic and The Ancient Amulet. All three can be purchased on Amazon.

There are so many raunchy books out there, so we need to get the word out to everyone that there are also good, fun, clean books out there. Thanks for your consideration.

Hi Christy,
I would recommend ‘Light of the Lost’ by David Ian Flynn. A very entertaining archaeological mystery in the vein of Indiana Jones – with great teen characters. Super clean education.
Regards
Charles

I love this list! I think I’ve read almost every one so far and I’ve loved them all! I would definitely recommend the Ranger’s Apprentice series by John Flanagan. It’s set in the same world as the Brotherband Chronicles and even features some of the same charcters. I’ve read all 10 books or so in the series at least four times, they are amazing and written with the same wry humor as the Brotherband series (which I’ve also read many many times ;)) Happy reading!

Hello, I really love your list! These are a lot of great books I have never heard of, and I only read clean books.

Is it possible to get on your list? I work for His Everlasting Love Media. HisEverlastingLove.com
We publish clean books that teens would love. Currently, we only publish Regency books, but in 2019 we will also publish contemporary clean books.

Just fyi – you did say everyone has their own definition of clean but I got my daughter the best kind of magic based on your recommendation. Unfortunately it has the b word, jack -a and thats when my daughter decided to stop reading. Just thought I should give other moms a heads up if this is something they want to avoid.

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